


Black and White with Shades of Grey

by Blue_Obsidian



Category: Sonic Boom (Cartoon), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: And I had a dream related to this, But I want Shadilver, Enjoy!, Finally doing this!, Honestly when people first get here I don't think their first fic is a multi-chapter ship fic, M/M, SO, Tropes, WOOOOOOO BOY, excited!, had to add that, here we are, you'll see why - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29940009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Obsidian/pseuds/Blue_Obsidian
Summary: Team Sonic have their.... views. On Shadow. They see him as arrogant, rude, mean and temperamental. And to an extent, their not entirely wrong. And their not in the wrong for thinking that way.But, that's just one side of a coin. His actions have reasons, his anger holds pain. And he, holds a secret. Far within his cave.Shadow didn't just, end up the way he did for no reason. He is someone who almost lost everything, and is hurt because of it.
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog/Silver the Hedgehog
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	1. Caves and Crystals

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!
> 
> (More notes at the End!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome!
> 
> More info at the end!

Shadow was outside his cave.

He almost never left his cave. He normally was in a room hidden in the western part of the cave.

and when he wasn't _there_ , he was standing guard for about 2 hours before going into the room for another 3.

This was a routine, and it normally never changed.

However, once every 2 months Shadow would leave the cave, carrying a large sack behind him, and scavenge (or steal) food. 2 months worth of food. He would do this so they would have enough to eat, and rarely have to leave. Although in his personal opinion, 2 months was far too short. They should be able to stay in his cave for a _year_ before going out to get food.

But, most, if not all, food was perishable, and 2 months was the longest most of it could last. However, there was one bright side to going out at this particular time of year.

It was early spring, and that meant fruit was growing.

The forest was beautiful this time of year. All of the tree's leaves were bright green, and there were some vines and flowers hanging down from them, with more flowers growing in the abundant brush. He heard some birds calling, and even heard a couple of woodpeckers. This forest was always beautiful, and never failed to take his breath away. While walking around, dragging the large sack behind him, his thoughts drifted from thinking about the wildlife, to gathering food. Specifically fruit.

He _loved_ fruit. They both did. Though, Shadow liked meat slightly better. But, of course, fruit was always good too.

When walking - it was more like stalking or creeping, though - through a mostly uninhabited part of the brush (occupied by an abundance of flowers, grass, moss, and small animals), he managed to find some fresh mangoes. That was always an upside. Mangoes were delicious, and finding them fresh was lucky.

He quickly (and _gently_ ) put the mangoes in a large sack he was carrying. Hopefully, they wouldn't get bruised from being at the bottom, with potentially heavy stuff being laid on top of them.

After a while, he managed to find quite the bounty. Multiple fresh cucumbers, melons (to which he immediately took out everything else and put the melons at the bottom to ensure nothing got crushed), mangoes (from the tree earlier), starfruit, sweet pea pods, some cauliflower, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, coconuts that he found on some palm trees near the beach, some sugar, cocoa beans (which he would happily eat later), garlic, celery, some beetroot, potatoes, some carrots, some dragon fruit, cherries, apples, bananas, pears, strawberries, pineapples, kiwi, pomegranate, raspberries, blueberries, some orange's, and finally, peaches. 

He was nearing hedgehog village, and he could hear the chatter of villagers, which meant he was too close. Their wooden homes with straw roofs tied together with red rope peeked out from over the rocks and trees. He stalked closer, looking out over the village now.

He was on a small cliff above the village, safely hidden, and the space was small, but comfortingly so. Not the kind of small that made him feel trapped.

It would be a great place to live if it wasn't so exposed.

He swiftly turned around and quickly skimmed over the contents of the bag. It was quite the haul, and should last them a while.

Oh. Wait, he didn't get any meat.

He whipped his head around and skimmed over the village, finding some shops selling meat. He pondered for a moment, but then saw saw a blue streak run by. _Sonic_. He turned around and just shrugged. Ah well, he could just go to the town and get some..... later. Not right now. He had been away long enough. He needed to check on him.

He quickly warped away, and when he opened his eyes, he was back in his cave. It was lit up by giant, glowing green crystals and fluorescent moss. It had a small pool of water in the middle, giving to to the appearance similar to a grotto. He walked quickly over to a wall covered in purple crystals, set down the bag, and put his hands in a tiny crack just big enough to fit his hands in.

Then he pulled.

The boulder made a loud _rumble_ noise and after a few more seconds, finally pushed the boulder away. He grabbed his bag full of nourishment, shut the entrance, and quickly walked up a long, jagged, natural hallway. After a solid minute, he finally saw the soft glow of blue crystals and sunlight from a small hole in the roof.

_There he is_

* * *

There, on a tattered and worn mattress, covered with a blanket, lay a silver hedgehog. He had 5 quills, golden eyes, and small ears.

Once he saw Shadow enter he perked up.

"You're back!" The silver hedgehog was now sitting up, using his hands to prop himself up. "You took a while." Although the sentence was accusatory in nature, the hedgehogs golden eyes were teasing.

Shadow allowed himself a small, barely visible, smile. _Never change, Silver, never change_. "Well, I was busy making sure you had enough to eat." He walked over and sat next to him, placing the sack a couple inches away from the ruined mattress. His gaze drifted over to the blanket. "Are your legs...?" 

Silver shook his head. "I still can't move them." He seemed to deflate as did the spark in his eyes. He lifted up his hands and his head instantly fell down, plopping his head against the pillow. "Do you think i'll ever be able to move them again?"

Shadow responded by placing a hand over his. "I'm sure you will. We thought the same thing about your hands, remember? About how they would never move again? Well, they move now, don't they?"

Silver seemed to process that for a moment, before smiling and nodding. His eyes happy again. "Yeah.. Yeah! You're right!"

Shadow's gaze drifted to the wall behind Silver, and stayed silent. They both did. They stayed that way for a while. But then Silver spoke up again.

"So... did anything happen while you were gone? Did you run into that.. Uh.... Um..." He paused for a moment, seemingly racking his brain for something. "Oh! Yeah! Did you run into that ' _Sonic_ ' guy again?"

Ah. That was it. He had told Silver about Team Sonic and Team Eggman. In fact, Silver was the one to suggest he go in the first place.

* * *

_Shadow was lurking near the entrance to his cave, arms crossed. He was looking down at his shoes, counting the minutes as they passed by. Standing guard was boring, and nothing ever happened. But, that was good. That meant there was no threat to Silver._

Nothing to harm him.

_Shadow's ear twitched, and he heard a mechanical whirring noise. He whipped his head around and darted towards the cave entrance, but when he got there, all that there was was a letter._

_Shadow picked it up cautiously and skimmed it over. It had a fancy stamp sealing it._

_Then suddenly, a pang of fear shot through him._

_What if this was just a distraction? What if this was just a distraction, and the whirring sound he heard was going towards the part of the cave Silver was in?_

_Shadow wasted no time in warping towards the room Silver was in, but to his surprise - and great relief - Silver was completely fine, and was fast asleep. Looking as peaceful as ever._

_Unfortunately, Shadow's minor panic attack had woken Silver up, and the ivory hedgehog's ears were twitching, golden eyes looking up at him in confusion._

_"Shadow?" Silver began "what's going on, is everything okay?"_

_Shadow was silent for a moment, before responding. "Yeah.. Yes. Everything is fine. I apologize for waking you. I just thought something was here."  
_

_Silver relaxed. This was a common occurrence. There had been multiple instances where Shadow thought something was coming towards Silver, and quickly warped into the room to protect him. The first time it happened, Silver had teased him about being too protective. Shadow responded that it was necessary, as, at this time, Silver couldn't move or feel his legs or his hands. Eventually it just became another routine in Shadow's day, warping to Silver whenever he thought something was coming to harm him._

_Silver noticed the envelope in Shadow's hands. "What's that?"_

_Shadow just shrugged. "I don't know, it just appeared at the entrance to the cave. It could be dangerous, though." Shadow made sure to add on that last part quickly, since he saw the curious gleam in Silver's eyes._

_It was no use, however, as Silver grinned. "Open it then!"_

_Shadow was about to protest, but decided to indulge Silver a little bit. He just hoped he wouldn't come to regret this later._

_He opened the letter, and silently read it. He frowned._

_Silver barely noticed it, since he couldn't see Shadow too well in his position. "What is it?"_

_"It's from that same scientist man I mentioned before. Something about other... 'Villains' coming together to take down that Sonic guy."_

_There was a small moment of silence, but then Shadow heard Silver's barely contained snorts of laughter. "'Villains'? Geez, what kind of first impression did you give them?"_

_Shadow shook his head. "I merely wasn't friendly. That's no reason to call me a villain."  
_

_"Hmmm." Silver hummed, squinting his eyes at shadow teasingly. Then his expression turned a little serious. "Though.. other ACTUAL villains coming together to bring someone down.. that sounds serious. Maybe you should go check it out."  
_

_Shadow blinked. "No. I have no interest or concern in that blue hedgehog or that village full of idiots. My one and only concern is you and your safety."_

_Silver wouldn't back down, though. "Well, if you care about my safety, then you should go check them out, then. What if they try to destroy the island? Or they find out about me, and come to harm me? Shouldn't you be there, helping out that Sonic guy? Or at least_ _making sure they aren't a threat?" He pleaded._

_Shadow was silent for a moment, thinking. "Fine." He sighed. He didn't like the idea of leaving Silver alone, which kinda went against his point of protecting him, but Shadow would go for Silver. "I will go assess these 'villains' threat level. Though, if that 'Eggman' guy is anything to go off of, I can guarantee that they aren't to be worried about."_

_Silver smiled, which was reassurance as Shadow warped away._

* * *

_"So_ this _is what you called me for."_

_Shadow decided to make his dramatic entrance while the Doctor was trying to keep his whiny guests content._

_The overweight doctor let out an overly dramatic gasp. "Shadow the Hedgehog!"_

_He turned around to look at everyone else there. "Hey everyone, look! Shadow's here!"_

_After some more chatter, the doctor turned to shadow, a giddy expression on his face. "Let me get you a chair, Mr. Shadow!" The doctor then proceeded to swipe a chair away from one of the other 'villains' there and push it towards Shadow, a hopeful expression on his face._

_Shadow practically gave the chair a look that was so angry it could melt ice. "I prefer to stand." He sneered. He only came here because of Silver, he didn't want to tolerate any of these buffoons._

_He was currently lost in thought, and only phased in and out mentally for certain points of the conversation. So when the doctor looked at his with an expecting expression, he merely tilted his head just barely and tilted his ear, scowl remaining on face, but showing that he was confused._

_The walrus spoke up, and before Shadow knew it, the rest of the 'villains' were arguing._

_Shadow restrained a snort._ They definitely are no threat to Silver. Good.

_The doctor tried to bring them 'closer together' or in other words, get them to the point of not trying to rip their throats out. It was pathetic and a failure, to say the least._

_Ultimately, Shadow left. They were no threat to Silver, and definitely couldn't take on Team Sonic. Something that will ease the ivory hedgehog a bit._

_But before Shadow teleported away, he had one last thought._

I should go pay Sonic a visit after i check on Silver. Perhaps even teach him a small lesson in humility.

* * *

"No." Shadow said simply. "I did not."

"Oh." Silver thought for a moment. "Well, did you-" Before Silver could finish something cut him off. It was footsteps. And someone was calling Shadow's name.

Shadow turned towards Silver. "Stay here, be quiet, stay safe."

Before Silver could argue, Shadow warped into the main entrance, and was greeted with an unpleasant sight.

Dr. Eggman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, welcome to the first chapter of a (Hopefully) ongoing series! I just wanted to clarify some things here.
> 
> First, you might be wondering why Shadow isn't a total prick here, since in the Boom universe, he is. Well, I wanted to explore the idea that it was merely a facade to protect himself from strangers, and his own weakness. Also I personally think the Sonic Boom writing for him did him dirty and made him insanely OOC, so that too. He's kind and gentle with Silver, for reasons that will be explained later. As will why Silver is even in the present, and why previously he couldn't move his hands, and why he still can't move his legs.
> 
> Second, I need to establish a small timeline. First off, Shattered crystal hasn't happened yet. It will eventually happen, but not for now.
> 
> RoL did still happen, but in the rewrite I will never make Shadow doesn't dunk on Sonic about how friendship makes you weak, because that would be really hard for me to sensibly justify since Shadow has Silver, and in this story Shadow cares about Silver too much to ever lie like that. Plus, most of the time, Shadow doesn't lie. (If we're going off of his SA2 personality.)
> 
> S1 has already happened, so this is taking place at the beginning of S2. However, I swapped out the episodes EP1 and EP 52 Part 1 & 2, since that also won't happen. So Eggman coming into Shadow's cave right now is like when in the OG ep52 where Eggman comes to show Shadow the poorly edited video of Sonic Trash-talking him. Obviously, Shadow won't care. I can justify him falling for the poor footage, as Shadow seems to live in a cave and not be all-too familiar with electronics, but I can't really justify him leaving Silver like that for something as silly as his own pride. Like the same thing with RoL Shadow saying friends are a weakness, I can't really justify that.
> 
> Also, Silver's personality is slightly different here, since he was raised in different conditions. Again, that will be explored later.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Just so you know updates will be very random, so it might take a while for me to get certain chapters done, so if i don't update in like, a month, then don't worry! I have either A. Been taking a while and procrastinating, or B. Fell out of interest of Sonic, or got interested in a different aspect of Sonic, like IDW or the games. I'll get back into the fandom eventually though, don't worry!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and support this story, and please comment if you liked it! Comments help me stay motivated, and let me know what you think of the Story! Feel free to share criticism!
> 
> Have a good day!


	2. Golden Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggman approaches Shadow with an offer. Shadow refuses.
> 
> Shadow then gets some rare alone time with Silver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me writing this Chapter: I. Am. SPEED.

_Silver was running around the metal hallways of the labs. He was laughing, with Shadow chasing him. They both were laughing, playing tag._

_Silver suddenly skidded to a halt just before he bumped into one of the researchers. Shadow thudded into him, causing Silver to stumble forward. He looked up at the researcher sheepishly, but to his relief, she just laughed and pet his quills, before moving to another room._

_Later, Silver and Shadow were looking out the glass window in the main room, looking at the stars and earth._

_"It's so beautiful." Silver said in awe. "Back in my time, I never got to see anything like this. The sky was always clouded with smoke." His paws were pressed against the glass, and his face leaning in._

_Shadow gave him a look. "Silver, the professor said this is your time period now too."_

_Silver blinked, then chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."_

_Then the automatic doors open. The two looked behind them to see another scientist, who cleared her throat before smiling an amused smile._

_"She's awake."_

* * *

Shadow didn't even bother restraining his snarl, causing Eggman to flinch. "What. Are you. Doing here?" He demanded, venom lacing his tone as he drew out every word. 

"Shadow." The man said cautiously. "I have a proposition for you."

"Find some other pawn, Doctor." Shadow responded immediately, hostility more high than it ever had been before. "I'll never associate myself with you again. Now get out of my sight." He held a fist up threateningly.

"I thought you would say that." The main said nervously, having the decency to back away with his hands up, but didn't leave. "So I thought it would be a good idea to let you know about all those things Sonic said about you." The man touched the device on his wrist, and a video of Sonic trash talking Shadow came up.

Shadow kept a neutral face. That wasn't to say he wasn't insulted, oh no, he certainly was. But, his pride wasn't going to take a beating just because Sonic said some rude things. And either way, getting revenge on Sonic was insignificant, especially since he had to protect Silver. Even if the Doctor wasn't a major threat to Team Sonic or Shadow (or almost anyone), Silver was an exception. Not only was Silver disabled, only being able to use his hands, using his psychokinesis right now would only hurt him again, and possibly bring any chances of him walking again to 0. 

He looked up at the Doctor. "Get out." He snarled.

Eggman looked down, disappointed. He slowly walked out of the cave with a slacked posture.

* * *

"I don't know how my plan failed, I thought it was flawless! Knowing Shadow, he would've jumped at the chance to pummel Sonic into the ground!" Eggman was back at his lair in record timing, of which was being kept by Orbot. 

"Perhaps there's something keeping him confined to his cave." Orbot piped in. "After analyzing what we know about Shadow, this is very out of character for him. So perhaps he's hiding something in his cave. Or he is more complex than we thought. Hmm... this will require further analyzing."

"No, no." Eggman waved him off. "Villains are never complex! They're always one-note with basic motivations. It's why the viewers are such big fans of me!" He said, breaking the fourth wall, shooing away Cubot to have him go fix it with some spare duct tape he had.

"I'll find out whatever Shadow's hiding. Then, I will have the ULTIMATE video game!" Eggman vowed, laughing maniacally as the camera panned away from him.

* * *

Shadow made sure he was gone before warping away to check on Silver.

"Are you okay?" Silver asked instantly as Shadow appeared.

"Yes. It was just Eggman." Shadow stated calmly. "Are YOU okay?"

Silver blinked a few times. "Yeah..? But if Eggman is here, that means he knows where the cave is."

Shadow was silent, before sighing. "Yes, I know. But I can't move you somewhere else without risk of further damaging your legs. And even then, there aren't that many places we can go. It would be risky going outside." He said, trying his best to reassure Silver, and himself.

"Oh.. Well I guess that's true." Silver looked to the side. "I'm... sorry if i'm weighing you down. I know my legs being paralyzed makes me really high-maintenance."

Shadow looked slightly surprised at that. "Silver, you aren't weighing me down. In fact, you're helping me a lot, by just being here. Now that everyone else is gone, your all I have left. Without you, I would be lost. And either way, where would I go? I have nothing else to do. I'm happy that you're still here." Shadow sat on the mattress, beside Silver.

Silver was quiet. Before suddenly saying "can.. can you stay here for now please?" 

Shadow nodded. "Of course."

And he did. They both just sat there, in silence. Soon night had fallen, as the light outside was no more and there was a tiny streak of moonlight peeking through the crack of the ceiling of the small room.

Shadow suddenly stood up and dusted himself off. "I should go and guard the entrance now. I've been sitting here too long." He went toward the hallway, but Silver scrambled to the best of his abilities to grab Shadow's wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

Shadow whipped his head around and panicked. He grabbed Silver by the torso and laid him back on the mattress. He carefully grabbed Silver's legs and gently laid them back down on the mattress. "What are you thinking? You need to leave your legs to heal!" He reprimanded, feeling slightly guilty when Silver's ears folded back and guilt was written all over his face.

"I'm sorry.." He said, like a child who was caught doing something they weren't supposed to do. "I just don't want you to leave. I've been alone every night, and you have been depriving yourself of sleep!"

Shadow was going to fiercely deny that, tell Silver to sleep while he stood guard, but it was true. Shadow felt exhausted. But his will hadn't completely succumbed to drowsiness. "But, how will I be able to protect you if i'm not standing guard?"

"Just sleep here!" Silver said, eagerly patting the spot next to him. "If anything tries to hurt me, you'll know! And protect me!"

Shadow was having an internal debate. On one hand, Silver was right. He could still protect Silver that way, and sleep at the same time. On the other, he felt more secure making sure no one was able to even get into the cave.

Eventually, he just sighed in defeat and took off his shoes and gloves - leaving on the inhibitor rings - laid down on the mattress, with Silver tossing the blanket over him.

Silver managed to use his arms to scoot over to Shadow, - completely disregarding what Shadow said earlier about leaving his legs alone - and layed on his side so he was facing towards Shadow, and Shadow was facing towards him.

"Silver, your-" Silver cut him off by putting a finger to his lips and making a shushing noise. He used his arms to again move his legs, this time curling them up so he was all curled up. The blanket now covered his face, with his quills only barely peeking out over it. Giving the appearance that he was shorter than Shadow, when in reality, they were the same height.

Silver was pressed up against Shadow, comforted by the warmth the ebony hedgehog gave off. He snuggled up against the black hedgehog's white tuft of fur on his chest, pressing his head against it, nuzzling it. In response, Shadow wrapped his arms around Silver, essentially trapping him, rendering him unable to scoot back. Silver didn't mind at all, though, and appreciated the extra warmth. He felt Shadow take one hand off of his back to smooth out the ivory hedgehogs quills, resting his head on Silver's. "Goodnight, Silver."

Silver wrapped his arms around Shadow, and, while smiling, responded "goodnight, Shadow." He then felt his eyelids droop shut, and fell asleep.

* * *

Silver suddenly woke up. It was morning, he could tell because of the sunlight peeking through the cave, and he felt something jolt him out of his drowsiness. 

He felt the steady rise and fall of Shadow's chest, and smiled. He stretched his legs and-

Wait.

Silver suddenly vigorously shook Shadow awake, earning a surprised grunt from the black hedgehog. "Shadow! Shadow!" He whispered, golden eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Hhh.. what? Silver, what is it?" Shadow grumbled, his breath tickling Silver's quills, which made him giggle.

"I can move my legs again!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was, for lack of a better word, boring. 
> 
> I want to have Silver's legs heal, but I also want the effect of them not working to last longer. Although, I have 0 ideas of what to make in regards to filler and have it be interesting, so in the next chapter, i'll have his legs work again. 
> 
> I've also been dying to be able to have Silver walk again, since then he can meet team Sonic.
> 
> I'm also going to admit I only wrote that Eggman scene to increase the wordcount.
> 
> I also died from fluff while writing the cuddling scene.
> 
> Hopefully i'll have written and posted a new chapter by tomorrow. I'll for sure come back to edit this later.
> 
> Enjoy your day everyone!


	3. The River

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silver tries to learn to walk again after a year of not walking, it goes about as well as expected.

_Silver's world was a ruined one._

_Silver knew that. Everything was covered in Smoke and fire, and almost no one else was left. His parents were gone, all he had left was Blaze._

_11 Years old, and all he had left was a friend._

_An Imaginary one._

_He was currently using his psychokinesis to hover himself above all of the lava and fire when it happened._

_There was something strange happening to Silver's surroundings. All of the buildings (or what was left of them) were shifting and warping, twisting. It was like the very fabric of the world around Silver was being pinched, and Silver's Psychokinesis began to phase out._

_Silver felt cold fear shoot throughout his body, but, for some reason, he didn't fall._

_He heard adult voices speaking, vaguely, like it was just whispers inside his head, as the world seemed to crumple around him._

_Then darkness overtook his vision, but not before he felt himself against a cold, hard, floor._

* * *

Shadow was suddenly wide awake.

He turned his head towards Silver and sat up immediately, and looked at him with wide, crimson eyes. His mouth was wide open, and he was frozen in place, staring at Silver in disbelief.

Silver decided to demonstrate by sitting up as well, and crossing his legs. While, yes, it was difficult, as his legs were fuzzy, and they had a slight delayed reaction. But, it was how his hands were when they were able to move again. Slightly fuzzy, lacking feeling in specific parts. But, as his hands did, eventually they would be working normally again.

Shadow, however, felt like the entire world was just turned upside down. He had believed that there was a chance that Silver's legs would move again, but to see them working again was still so shocking and surprising. 

Silver didn't bother to contain his laughter at Shadow's face. His laughter echoed around the small cavern, as Shadow reached his arm out to softly caress the fur of Silver's right leg. "Can.. can you feel this?" He asked gently.

Silver nodded "Yup!" He suddenly slid off of the mattress and tried to stand up and walk.

His legs wobbled and his feet failed him, though, and he was sent flying face-first into the rough floor of the cavern.

Shadow had seen what was about to happen and shot towards Silver, grabbing him by the shoulders and hauling him up onto the mattress before his face could hit the floor. He would be amused by Silver's antics if he hadn't been given a minor panic attack. "Silver!" He scolded. "Be careful!"

"But I haven't been able to walk in such a long time!" Silver complained. "I just wanted to be able to stand up again. How was I supposed to know that my legs would forget how to walk?"

Shadow sighed. "We can try and help you walk again, but we shouldn't put too much strain on them, in case it only further damages them." At Silver's disappointed look, Shadow added "but, if you want, I suppose I can try to help you now."

Silver brightened. "Oh, by the way, where did you leave my boots and gloves?" He said, looking around the cavern. "I really liked those, and I would like to have shoes on when I go outside."

Shadow faltered. "When I was checking you for injuries when we first got here, I threw them off in a panic and forgot about them. They're long gone by now."

Shadow remembered that clear as day. It was one of the scariest moments in his life.

* * *

_"Silver? SILVER?!" Shadow was shaking an unconscious Silver rapidly. Wounds and burns littered Shadow's body, while Silver only had a few. But, he had one big bleeding wound right where his ribs were, staining his white fur with red. It was raining, dark, and dreary. Fitting, considering what was happening._

_Silver was unresponsive. After more rapid shaking and yelling on Shadows behalf, he finally blinked awake. There were bags under his eyes, and his normally bright golden eyes were dim and foggy. "Shadow?" He asked weakly._

_Shadow left out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Chaos. Are you okay Silver?"_

_Silver was silent. He managed to move his head and neck just fine, without any pain. It was when he tried to move his arms and legs did fear burst through his bloodstream. "I.. I can't move my legs. Or arms."_

_Shadow stopped breathing for a moment. "Shadow? Shadow? Why can't I move them?" Silver's voice was beginning to crack, and sounded like he was on the verge of crying._

_In a panicked rush, Shadow quickly unbuckled Silver's gloves and boots and took them off, and then threw them to the side. Shadow rested a hand on Silver's left leg and pinched it with the other. "Do you feel this?" He asked, panicked._

_Silver shook his head. Shadow repeated the procedure with his right leg, left arm, and right arm. Silver couldn't feel anything in any of them. And then finally, the most worrying thing, his ribs._

_Shadow gently pressed against Silver's ribs. Under normal conditions, Silver would've cried out in pain. But he didn't say or make any noise. "Can you feel this?" Shadow asked, praying he would say yes._

_Silver was silent for a moment. "No." He responded, voice breaking. Tears began to run down his muzzle, but were only drowned out by the countless raindrops falling from the dark clouds. "I can't feel them." His voice was now broken, and now he was sobbing. Loudly. "I can't feel anything!" He cried out._

_Shadow felt like the world had stopped. The world didn't give him time to process this, though, as a flash of lightning appeared in the sky. Far too close to where they were, since there was an ocean behind them, the water dark, and the waves roaring._

_Shadow gently picked up the crying ivory hedgehog, and dashed. They needed to find shelter._

* * *

Silver nodded. "That's okay." He knew that time was a very sensitive topic for Shadow. It was one of the biggest scares they both had ever experienced. "Could you.. go into town and get me something new?" He asked hopefully.

Shadow had an internal debate. _Going into the town can be risky. Sonic and his friends might see me and attack. Or one of the villagers will recognize me and either alert Team Sonic, or make a big enough commotion to draw them there. But I was the one who threw Silver's boots away, and I don't want him to walk around barefoot. And while I don't have any money, I can easily take any items I need._

"Okay." He finally answered, smiling slightly at Silver's elated expression. "I'll go get something for you. Stay here, _do not get up_ , and stay safe." He said, petting Silver's quills before putting on his gloves and shoes and warping away.

Shadow was immediately greeted with the sun's bright rays beating down on his crimson eyes. He flinched and covered his eyes, waiting a second for everything to un-blur, before dashing through the village and quickly skimming all of the shops, looking for any clothes that caught his attention.

Shadow skidded to a halt once he saw a pair of shoes, gloves, a scarf, and some dark blue and neon cyan sports tape. The boots looked almost identical to Silver's old ones, with a few minor changes. The gloves had almost looked the exact same, but with dark blue sports tape covering where the palm was. The scarf was a lovely dark ocean blue color. It was almost perfect, and convenient. Almost plot convenient. He waited until the shop owner was busy helping a different customer to dash forward and swipe them, moving too fast to have anyone notice or see him. It was surprising none of the villagers recognized him.

They _were_ quite dumb, though.

When Shadow got back into the small cavern, Silver was fast asleep.Which was surprising, since it didn't even take Shadow that long to get what Silver had asked for.

_But, he did just wake up only a few minutes ago, I suppose. He must've gotten drowsy again._

Shadow set down the stolen items beside Silver and laid down in front of him. He was slightly tired too, with it still being early in the morning. He wrapped his arms around the ivory hedgehog, being careful enough to not wake him up, and pressed their foreheads together as he felt the warm embrace of sleep wash over him again.

* * *

Shadow woke up to - again - Silver excitedly shaking him awake. 

Shadow blinked himself awake, sitting up. "What is it Silver?" 

"I love what you got me! Why didn't you wake me up?!" Silver was wearing what Shadow had gotten him, looking very elated and happy.

Shadow smiled slightly. "You were asleep, I didn't want to disturb you. I'm glad you like it, though." Shadow then remembered something. "Wait. How did you get it on? I thought you had forgotten how to walk."

Silver snickered in response. "I don't need to walk in order to put shoes and gloves on. Though, speaking of which, can we try walking now?" Silver's golden eyes were alight with excitement now, and Shadow couldn't bring himself to say no.

"Sure." Shadow got up and helped lift Silver to his feet, keeping him standing when his legs wobbled and the ivory hedgehog fell. 

"Careful." Shadow warned, guiding Silver to the entrance of the cavern. Silver managed to remember the basics of walking, and didn't have too much trouble getting to the front, other than a few missteps and slips here and there.

Silver was able to walk down the hallway without help, albeit very slowly. Though he did slip at the end, prompting Shadow to dart forward and catch him.

Silver sat down as Shadow pushed open the boulder leading to the secret cavern, and helped him up so he could walk out.

As Shadow pushed the boulder back in it's place, Silver got a good look at the cave around him. "Wow..." He said, breathlessly. "This cave is beautiful. I didn't get to get a good look at it before."

Shadow barely flinched, so much so that Silver didn't even notice. "Yeah... well, would you like to go outside?" He asked Silver.

Silver nodded quickly. "Yes! Yes!"

Shadow managed to guide Silver out of the rocky and sharp edges of the cave, and onto the soft, green grass as the salty ocean breeze swayed in the wind. Silver loved it.

Shadow and Silver were walking through the jungle close (but not too close) to Hedgehog Village. The overhead canopies blocked out the sunlight, and the sound of rushing water grew louder and louder as the two neared towards a waterfall.

"These 'jungles' are beautiful... now do you see why we were obsessed with seeing them?" Silver asked. While the question was generally lighthearted, there was an undertone of sadness in it.

"Yes. I must admit that I took a while admiring this place when I first came across it." Shadow responded, choosing to ignore the lingering feelings that came with the question. "There is actually an oasis not far from here, if you would like to see it." He offered. They were now right next to the river, the waterfall drowning out almost any noise, with the river having multiple sharp rocks and rapids in it.

Silver instantly perked up. "Yes! Yes! I'd love to!" Silver let go of Shadow's hand and tried to run, but tripped and fell face first onto the jungle floor. When he sat up, he was rubbing that back of his quills sheepishly, with small specks of dirt stuck in his quills.

Shadow didn't get a chance to scold him however, as Dr. Eggman suddenly flew in on his Egg Mobile from out of nowhere. Shadow felt waves of hostility rise, he put one arm in front of Silver and he bared his teeth, his sharp canines intimidating the doctor a bit.

"Shadow! There you are! I-" The Doctor paused in his dramatic entrance to sent an annoyed glance at Silver. "Wait. Who's that?"

"None of your business, Doctor." The hedgehog snarled, feeling guilty at Silver's slight wince at his behavior. "What are you doing here?"

"Wait. Who are YOU?" Silver asked, not yet making the connection of the Doctor being Dr. Eggman. Shadow inwardly shouted at Silver not to say anything, but it was too late to warn him now.

Eggman put a hand to his chest, offended. "Excuse me! I am the evil genius, Dr. Eggman!" He then pulled out some weird kind of a gun. "Now shoo, I have business with Shadow here." He shot the gun at Silver, thankfully missing, but the small force of the blast knocked Silver into the river.

.

Silver was knocked into the river, and felt cold water splash onto his fur and he sunk below the water. He felt a shiver go down his back. His head was harshly banged against one of the rocks. Thankfully, it wasn't a sharp one, but it still _hurt_. He tried to swim up, but the strong current shoved him back down again.

He felt Shadow calling out his name, but it felt so far away as the river carried him downstream. He last saw one blurred streak of red from above the water before he lost consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am FAST when writing these things. You'd think that drag down the quality.. but nope. Not for this chapter at least.
> 
> This one is a MAJOR improvement from the last one. And it's longer, (8 pages long in google docs!) but doesn't have needless filler. I like it :).
> 
> And yes, I am entering the realm of evil cliffhanger authors. Face me if you dare.
> 
> Enjoy your day, and please comment so I can hear your feedback! Your comments keep me motivated! 
> 
> Have a Wonderful Day!


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